WikiLeaks have not responded to demand of returning war logs

WikiLeaks have not contacted us: Pentagon

PTI | August 12, 2010



WikiLeaks, the whistleblower website, has not yet responded to the demand made by the US last week to return all classified leaked documents on Afghan war, Pentagon and State Department officials have said.

"We are still waiting for WikiLeaks to respond to our demands made last week. We have not been contacted by them. We have not got any indication that they intend to comply," Pentagon deputy spokesman Col Dave Lapan told reporters.

About a week ago, Pentagon had asked WikiLeaks to return to it all the classified documents that it has gained access to through various sources.

"The Defence Department demands that WikiLeaks return immediately to the US government all versions of documents obtained directly or indirectly from the Department of Defence databases or records," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.

"Looking at track record of WikiLeaks, they are as unpredictable as North Korea. We have seen before, they have said that they are going to release things, but wasn't released," Lapan said.

"We are obviously concerned with any additional document that they would release," he said in response to a question.

Both the Pentagon and State Department spokesmen denied that they were aware of any US effort asking other countries to launch their own investigation against WikiLeaks.

"We have touched a lot of bases over the last 24 hours and I'm not aware that anyone at the Department of State has had that kind of conversation with a foreign government," State Department spokesman P J Crowley said.

"I think, the Attorney General has indicated, we are evaluating ? well, step back further ? we are obviously investigating directly the leak itself. That investigation is led by the Department of Defence. We are supporting that investigation," he said.

"But the Attorney General has indicated that we will aggressively pursue any case where we believe our laws have been broken. I would think that any other country that has been similarly affected by this action would consider similar steps, but those are decisions for individual countries to make," Crowley said.

No country had been approached to encourage such a step and the conversations were on the joint concerns over the issue, he said.

"But I'm not aware that we've had any conversation where we have said, 'Hey, you should look at prosecuting person X, Y, or Z'," the official added.
 

Comments

 

Other News

The economics of representation: Why women in power matter

India’s democracy has grown in scale, but not quite in balance. Women today are active participants in elections, influencing outcomes in ways that were not as visible earlier. Yet their presence in legislative institutions continues to lag behind. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was meant to addres

India will be powerful, not aggressive: Bhaiyyaji

India is poised to emerge as a global power but will remain rooted in its civilisational ethos of non-aggression and harmony, former RSS General Secretary Suresh `Bhaiyyaji` Joshi has said.   He was speaking at the launch of “Rashtrabhav,” a book by Ravindra Sathe

AI: Code, Control, Conquer

India today stands at a critical juncture in the area of artificial intelligence. While the country is among the fastest adopters of AI in the world, it remains heavily reliant on technologies developed elsewhere. This paradox, experts warn, cannot persist if India seeks technological sovereignty.

RBI pauses to assess inflation risks, policy transmission

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has begun the new fiscal year with a calibrated pause, keeping the repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent in its April Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. The decision, taken unanimously, reflects a shift from aggressive policy action to cautious observation after a signi

New pathways for tourism growth

Traditionally, India’s tourism policy has been based on three main components: the number of visitors, building tourist attractions and providing facilities for tourists. Due to the increase in climate-related issues and environmental destruction that occurred over previous years, policymakers have b

Is the US a superpower anymore?

On April 8, hours after warning that “a whole civilisation will die tonight,” US president Donald Trump, exhibiting his unique style of retreating from high-voltage brinkmanship, announced that he agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran. The weekend talks in Islamabad have failed and the futur


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter